Vengeance From the Void
by Atanatar Alcarin
Summary: Sentenced into the Void for eternity, Melkor now plots his final revenge against the Valar. And as time counts towards the prophesied End, Melkor enters into one last alliance with an ancient entity: a self-serving ally in the distant past ... and an old enemy.
1. Chapter 1 The Judgment

**Vengeance From the Void**

**The Judgment**

It was empty, and utterly dark. For all the tempest and discord he had wrought upon Eä, the Void, that primordial emptiness that first drew him into Darkness, seemed confoundingly serene. For it was without Being, as it had always been, or ever will be. Melkor sought to recall the age before Time, where once he walked alone its measureless wastes, seeking the creative power of Ilúvatar, so that he himself may create Being as his Maker had done. And now once more he is within the Void, and here, in its deepest and most forgotten wastes, distant beyond comprehension from Eä or the Timeless Halls, was he cast into eternal punishment.

Ages beyond count have passed since the Valar had shut him out of Eä, and yet still he remembered the bitter memory of defeat as clear as yesterday. _Oh yes_, there the Valar stood, arrayed in the fullness of their glory before their lofty thrones in Valmar. And it was then that Mandos, without pity or scorn, declared his Doom, as he, bound once more in the chain of Angainor, his neck bearing as a beaten collar his once mighty Iron Crown, was perforce to listen, and every word he remembered:

"Hear now, Melkor, the judgment of the Valar!" declared Mandos, his voice deep and terrible, for his voice was the Voice of the Will of the Valar, and the echo of his words resonated through the mighty halls of Valmar. "Knowest, Melkor, that the greatest care have the Valar taken in deciding your fate, for although your crimes are beyond healing or redress, still the Valar have sought the most just of penalties for your misdeeds."

Melkor did not speak. But he looked on the faces of the Valar that sat in majesty on their thrones, and he beheld the face of Manwë, stern and unmoving, and seeing this he realized that feigning peace would avail him no longer, for they knew him now.

But Mandos went on:

"On account of your deeds, specifically the murder of the Two Trees and the theft of the Silmarils, whose light you have sought to deprive the World, but most especially for the Marring of Arda and the defilement of Eru's Children, to which you have spilled their blood unjustly in your selfish wars, as well as for leading many of your kindred astray, that they may become your instruments against the will of Eru. It is for all these misdeeds, and many others beside, that the Valar henceforth sentences you to eternal banishment in the Void."

And Melkor, hearing the gravity of his fate, looked up at the face of Mandos, and his white-hot eyes blazed in defiant rage. But Mandos, dispassionate as ever, paid no heed.

"There in the Void you will stay," he said. "Within its enclosing darkness, you will dwell in your native form, naked as a spirit bereft of its house, for the body you have worn in Arda will be severed from it, and shall be destroyed, so that never again can you walk as a Power visible upon Arda, and Eä itself will be shut against you, so that you yourself can never return. There in the Void you will dwell for all the ages to come, that you may reflect on what you have done, and, perhaps, by the grace of Eru and the prayer of Nienna, you may as yet repent. But repentance or not, your punishment will hold, and shall do so until undone by the Valar, or till the World is ended. So speaketh the Valar."

Then Melkor sought to raise himself from his abasement, but the weight of Angainor was like the weight of the world, and the jagged collar on his neck bowed his shoulders to the ground, and he could not upright himself. But his will, still uncowed, fueled by malice borne upon ages, rose like a black cloud of hate, and before their resplendent glory he mustered his final spite. And Melkor laughed shrilly, saying: "So now! Have the Valar come to this? That they should be so sated in their bliss and self-righteousness that they, rather than speak their own mind, would instead pass judgment through the mouth of another? Indeed, who are the Valar to pass judgment on Melkor, I, who was here before all else?" And the echoes of his hatred sounded harshly across the hallowed halls, but still none of the Valar spoke.

"Now you seek to thrust me into the Void, hoping, perhaps, to keep me in eternal confinement. Fools!" Melkor screamed. "For even by shutting me there, you cannot alter the truth: that Arda, and all Eä, is mine. Even with my removal from their confines, my will shall continue to hold sway, for no power within the World or without can ever hope to remove that part of my essence that I have poured into Arda. But, seeing that you are all so keen into diminishing me, then by all means destroy this body, that you may see the truth of my words. And as for repentance: I need it not, for Melkor repents nothing. But sit now, and bask in your bliss and your glory for as long as they are there to relish! For none of you, not Mandos, not Tulkas, or Manwë even, could hope to hinder my return."

To this Manwë did not speak. But then Varda arose from her high throne, and the light of her eyes pierced the shadows he had cast upon himself, so that his veil was dispersed, and before her radiant gaze he was as naked as a spirit. "Great mercy have the Valar shown to you, for had we elected to abide by your methods, then verily you would have been subjected to the same torments you yourself had unjustly bestowed upon the Children of Eru. But the Valar are not wont to do so, lest we become like you. Mightiest you are among all of us, you say? Verily you were, but by seeking to possess Arda for yourself, you have dispersed your being, so that by your greed and malice you have diminished yourself, and your claims to preeminence have now become hollow. It is not for hatred of you that we cast you into the Everlasting Darkness, but for the love of Arda, that it may thus be spared from the poison of your malice. But hearken now, Melkor! For there in the Void, that measureless expanse whose undefinedness you have used to lead many of our kindred astray, there you can expend in your hate and in your tumults at your heart's content, and it will matter not, for Eä and Arda will bear them no longer."

And to this Melkor was put to shame, and he wished indeed that he had once more those great native powers he once possessed, for in ages forgotten when he had been Melkor, by whose power he had toppled mountains and spilled lakes into the basins of the earth, no chain, vault, or exile could have verily hoped to restrain him. But alas, it was not so! And the very truth of Varda's words struck his pride like lightning to a withered tree.

But now, looking into the eyes of the Valar, and realizing his diminished state, he saw no hope of undoing their judgment, be it by force or cunning.

But then Mandos, who had stood silently amidst all this, spoke thus: "The Void awaits you."

And to Melkor, it seemed as if some powerful unseen hands were holding him in place, far more than Tulkas had ever used to restrain him in ages past, and he could not break free. But his body felt as though it was being burned from within; and he remembered the Silmarils, those holy jewels of Fëanor, whose hallowed light had burned his hands beyond healing, and hatred choked his heart. Yet he could do nothing, for by the power that had left his being, no longer did he have the strength to free himself. And as his accursed flesh withered into ash, the chain and collar that clamped on his flesh clattered to the ground. But from the ashes of his remains his spirit rose like a black cloud, menacing and dreadful; menacing, but powerless, as it, too, was held fast by those unyielding hands. Seemingly now it sought to draw him away from the halls of Valmar, and to his vision it appeared as if the Valar and their abode began to recede. And still he continued to be pulled, so that now he saw the plains of Valinor and the shining domes of Valmar sparkle like jewels from a distant shore. In great speed did he now pass beyond the clouds of Ilmen; and in a fleeting rush his gaze beheld the streaking stars, until they became lines of many-coloured lights that passed beyond seeing. And still he went on, until at last he came upon the starless void, dark and silent; older than the oldest, for it was more ancient than he.

And then the memory ended.

So befell his great fall, from Lord of Arda down into exile beyond the Door of Night. But now Melkor opened his eyes, and still he saw nothing, as has been for ages beyond count since his defeat in the War of Wrath; for the Void is a realm where neither sight nor sound held meaning. But the heart of Melkor, ever black as the void about him, continued to burn like smoldering embers; cooled by a little, yet never wholly quenched. And he nursed this now, as he gathered his strength once more for a final uprising, until the coming of The End.


	2. Chapter 2 The Shadow's Vow

**The Shadow's Vow**

The Outer Void. More distant than anything beyond Eä, for indeed the whole of Eä was within it; and where it ends, the Void expands, out towards a matterless infinity. Countless times he had explored its fathomless wastes in search of the Secret Fire, and though he failed in this endeavour, he came to embrace a new thing: Darkness. And Darkness he now used to define his essence. For here, in the belly of the Everlasting Night, Melkor returns to where his evil began.

Like his malice, Melkor knew all the regions of the Void, and secretly he relished at this feat, for indeed no Ainu had ever traversed such immeasurable distances. Or so he thought. For now, he had gone far beyond he had ever reached, and he himself knew he was treading into regions unknown.

Melkor looked to his surroundings. Too distant was he now for the eyes of any of the Valar to unclad him; yet still he chose to cloak himself in shadow, and in this form he traversed the Void, dark and terrible. Great strength he has recovered since his banishment, and as a formless Shadow he now assumed for himself; his burning eyes the only evidence of his existence apart from the Void, for indeed he had grown dark as the emptiness about him.

But now, coming upon this region of the Outer Void, he sensed the darkness grow even blacker. It was utterly empty, bereft of all matter, yet it seemed as if the nothingness was even denser than the core of Arda itself, and the mounting pressures sought to crush him; but being formless he remained unscathed. And he knew she was near. With eyes that could pierce the shadows, he sought to see beyond the impenetrable void, yet even this proved strenuous as well.

Still he went deeper, until at last he came to a place where the Void was no longer void, but of something else; dark, yet not without Being. For indeed it was an Unlight: of Darkness made Being. And here, he believes, Ungoliant dwelt.

Long ages had passed since he first sought her in the mountains of Avathar, when he, aided by her lust, plotted his revenge against the Valar. Great use she had in the darkening of Valinor, for without the Poison of Death in her body, the Two Trees would not have died so utterly. Yet neither did he forget how she had risen in uproar against him, she having desired the very Silmarils he had claimed for himself. And secretly, he loathed her. Yet strangely, it seemed their fates were tied, for in his desire for vengeance, always he found himself standing before her very door. And here, in the most distant regions of the Void, where no eyes of the Valar could pierce, he will seek to persuade her once more.

But now, Melkor tread deeper into the realm Ungoliant had made for herself, and about him, he felt the pressures rise to seemingly intolerable force.

Then suddenly, as if heralding the presence of their weaver, the dense shadows appeared to abruptly thin, so that once again Melkor could see parts of the Void. And then he saw her: a vast, incomprehensible pit that opened into nothingness, blacker than the blackest, darker even than his own Shadow. For that was what Ungoliant had become: as a puncture in the Void, whose sustenance was Darkness itself, and whose emission was the very thing she devoured, for no Light more could she find; and yet the darkness she spewed was blacker than the Void itself, for it was wrought with malice; and it was with Being. The Unlight.

And indeed Melkor became afraid, for her size dwarfed in scale anything he had yet seen. Slowly now, she appeared to rotate from her center, so that her fringes, like the spokes of a wheel, curved in around her in a vast disk, embracing her in a deathly dance. In horror, Melkor saw parts of the Void being drawn towards her, as if the very fabric of the Void itself was being torn apart, and slowly now, they circled about her periphery. But from her gaping mouth, he saw even darker nets of gloom being spewed forth; in powerful jets she ejected them, so that in great speed they hurtled out into the emptiness. And he dared not come near her, lest he be drawn inexorably into her crushing center.

But Ungoliant was aware of him, and in a voice that seemed to draw from the very bowels of her emptiness, she spoke: "So now! I see that you have come once more, Blackheart!"

And Melkor hid his fear, lest Ungoliant perceives this. And his pride was great, for still he deemed himself Lord. "It seems you have run out of light to consume, Ungoliant," he said. "For why else would you devour the darkness around you, if not for the lack of it."

But then Ungoliant burst into cruel laughter, and she said: "I see now why you have come! As before, when you first came to promise me the blood of the Trees, and all the Light of Aman at my dispose, here you are once more, offering me more of the same. For that is why you are here, is it not? So that another may deal the blows of your vengeance on your behalf?"

And Melkor sensed her taunt, and in anger his pride rose with it. "I am Lord of Eä," he declared haughtily. "And so being, it is in my power to give what I deem fit. To which I now freely do, for verily, I offer you all the Light your hunger may desire."

But Ungoliant was unconvinced, and she scorned him. "Once you have vowed to me the same reward for my aid. And now you promise me more Light than I could ever consume. But when I have done so, when all has been consumed, what then will you promise me, Blackheart? The World? Or would it be Eä now?"

And then it was Melkor's turn to laugh, and genuinely he indulged in his mirth. "Come now! I think you overestimate your appetites, Ungoliant. Why, the stars within Eä are innumerable beyond count! Can you so much as consume a fraction of them, and still be unsated?"

But looking at what Ungoliant had become, he was indeed in doubt, for he felt her hunger knew no bounds; and seeing how hungrily she devoured the Void, she may as yet consume all matter within Eä. But too late was it now to withdraw his offer. For to achieve his vengeance, he would offer everything to all who would aid him, even if it were to be the utter ruin of Eä.

Yet Ungoliant hesitated, for she remembered the pursuit of the Valar in ages long forgotten, when they had murdered the Trees and had stolen the Holy Jewels of Fëanor; and she feared the wrath of the great Lords.

Melkor sensed her trepidation. "You fear the Valar will give pursuit, yes? Verily you should, as indeed the Valar are terrible in their wrath. But my wrath far outmeasures theirs, for no being knows hatred as deeply as I have. And that is why we are both beyond failing. For my hate shall be my weapon, and your hunger shall be yours. And they shall be the fuel of our revenge; so much so that no defeat shall ever come upon us, save only to those whom we loath."

But Ungoliant was reluctant. "Mighty words of vengeance you speak, Blackheart. And yet you forget it is their guardianship of Eä that keeps us here, locked in the Void."

"And whoever said we shall strike only with half blows?" Melkor laughed. "For in Aman itself, I will strike in full, and no Light of theirs, or strength of arms, or of weapon yet unheard can hope to withstand my onslaught."

And hearing this, Ungoliant stirred from where she lay; and her vast shape rose upwards, as of a wide disk upon a plane inclines steadily upright, until at last the broad stretch of her emptiness faced him in its fullest expanse; and Melkor was frightened, for although he knew a great measure of space separated them, her looming darkness seemed to erase all sense of distance.

In malice now, she spoke: "Very well, Blackheart! I will do as you bid. But knowest this: No more hindrances or promises withheld shall I brook from you. Aid you I shall, but you will leave me to my desires."

Then Melkor's darkness rose in answer, his ever-shifting shadow growing to such enormous proportions, so that verily it seemed threatened to blot out in full this region of the Void. But in white-hot heat his eyes continued to blaze, the only light in these deep wells of night. And together now, as of two great creatures of the Dark, they stood facing each other, Shadow blending into Shadow; and they were terrible to behold, though no eyes were fated to ever see them as they are now.

Haughtily, he replied: "Very well, Ungoliant. Do as you wish. I care not. For I shall have my revenge just the same. But knowest this also: At no instance are you to ever touch Arda, for it is mine, and mine alone."

And hearing this, Ungoliant laughed mightily. "A small price to pay for my lust," she said. "So be it."

And so it was that Melkor and Ungoliant, in these deepest regions of the Void, where even Eä and the Timeless Halls were but a distant reality, have sealed the fates of Arda and Eä, and themselves. But they knew this not, for they were not Mandos.


	3. Chapter 3 Vengeance at the End of Time

**Vengeance at the End of Time**

Far off in the depths of Eä, the stars continued to burn brightly, their pinpoint lights as of countless jewels spread upon an endlessly black canopy. But their minuscule size belied their immense scales, for each one stood many times greater than the whole of Arda, as indeed Varda had intended them to be. And their very surfaces blazed with numerous tongues of incandescent fire, hotter even than the core of Arda, as each one sought to escape into the empty space beyond.

But now, at the very edge of Eä, where the stars are all but sparse and widely scattered, their light seemed to dim into a faint flicker, as indeed the light they emitted is steadily being sapped. For now, coming upon this region of the Void, where its absolute nothingness merged with the last stretch of space within Eä, Melkor had finally come, and before his great shadow their light seemed to falter and fail. With eyes that could pierce through the vast stretches of space, he looked through the Door of Night, its towering columns framing its opened portal. But looking farther out he beheld the white ship of Vingilot, upon which stood Eärendil the Mariner; and he was both fair and beautiful and grave, as the last remaining Silmaril shone in white radiance upon his brow. And at the sight of him, Melkor's ancient hatred was rekindled, for by Eärendil's journey to Aman was his downfall sealed. But lust there was also, for the sight of the Silmarils was a desire he could never wholly quench, they having been the very tokens with which he had laid claim his lordship over Arda.

Yet now, he was at the threshold of Eä and the Void, where the former ends and the latter begins. And here, both space and time seemed to defy their very laws, for the mingling of the vacuum of the Void and the material space of Eä created relentless distortions in the fabric of reality, to which none but the spirit of the Ainur could endure. And though this region remained vast beyond comprehension, still, it was only a narrow swath compared to the full expanse of the Void, to which none had yet completely measured or traversed.

But now, as Melkor looked out into the realm he had once lorded over, Ungoliant slowly came behind him, so that their shadows blended; and together they appeared as of a darkness of utter impenetrability, where even the Void itself pales in comparison. But farther out behind them shone the numerous embers of red-orange light, and they were wrapped in shadow; for verily, marshalled behind them was the whole host of Balrogs, those demons of fire whose spirits have survived beyond their deaths in the War of Wrath, cast into the Void like their corruptor, and remaining still in that allegiance, down into their Lord's final moment of vengeance. But standing mighty before them was the Shadow of his greatest servant, Sauron, whom he had resurrected from defeat. And he was terrible to behold, for like his master he lacked physical form; as a single slit of fire he now assumed for himself, whose power draws from its very hatred of the Men of Númenor of old.

In silence, this vast host now massed at the borders of Eä, where the Valar, ever confident in the impenetrability of the Walls of Night, held little vigilance; and by the Unlight of Ungoliant their presence was cloaked. To another's eyes, it would indeed appear as though Ungoliant had done Melkor's bidding. And yet no servant was she of Melkor; for, like of old, ever was she her own master, driven to follow one's subtle goading if only to assuage her insatiable hunger for Light.

And together now, these two great spirits of the Dark looked out into the depths of the Void, towards the Door of Night, and from its opening they saw a glimpse of the stars of Varda, bright and burning, twinkling like innumerable gems within the vast spaces of Eä. And at their sight, Ungoliant was filled with great lust.

"Is that what you are offering me, Blackheart?" she asked hungrily.

"That, and much more," Melkor replied. "So, do you believe me now? Do you still think you can consume them as swiftly as you had done with the Trees, and still be unsated?"

"I cannot tell," replied Ungoliant uncertainly, though the lust continued to gnaw at her heart. "For in all the ages past, never have I been able to sate my hunger."

"Perhaps now you will find out," Melkor retorted, his white-hot eyes narrowing in malice. Indeed, hardly had he spoken these words did Ungoliant's dark periphery, like tentacles born from the void, began to creep towards the light of the stars, whose light filtered into the Door of Night, out into the Void.

But now, as he returned his gaze once more to the Door of Night, he beheld the great yellow sphere of the Sun, its radiant blaze casting golden rays into the empty spaces of Eä, out towards a bluish-white orb: Arda. And verily, it was now Melkor's turn to be consumed with lust.

"What is that hateful brightness?" Ungoliant asked as she looked upon the yellow orb.

And Melkor laughed aloud. "The Sun. Unbeknownst to you, as you had busily fled into the south of Arda, the Valar have managed to create two more fruits from the dying Trees, ere they finally expired. One of them you are looking at. The other is far behind Arda: the Moon."

"I want them!" Ungoliant hissed, her voice like a thousand echoes bellowing from her empty depths.

"Then consume them!" he said scornfully. "And when you are done with them, consume the stars! Let Varda see the works of her hands fall into your abysmal hunger."

"Indeed, I shall," Ungoliant answered lustily.

Then Melkor turned very grave. "But first, we must come upon them at unawares, for he who strikes first will have the upper hand. We shall enter the Door of Night in force."

At this, Ungoliant became fearful. "You must be mad! Or are you blind to the one that stands guard over its ramparts?"

And once more, Melkor laughed mightily. "Yet he is only one. He cannot halt the full advance of my host, or have you not noticed our numbers? Too preoccupied will he be with my host ere he could achieve anything of significance."

"And where will you _be_?" Ungoliant asked, as if doubting his intent.

But Melkor did not answer. With eyes piercing beyond the fabric of Eä, he beheld the land of Aman, home of the hated Valar and Eldar. And he saw the silver spires of Valmar shimmering as of jewels in the distant air. But towering above them was Taniquetil, the Holy Mountain, highest of all peaks within and without Arda, where his brother Manwë sat in power as the Elder King. "To Aman," he said at last.

And, turning upon her and his dark host, he said: "So it begins."

And so began the Dagor Dagorath, the beginning of The End, to which all Arda and Eä will be overturned, out towards a great resurrection ... and into the Second Music.


End file.
